The UK now has peak number of deaths in Europe due to coronavirus, in line with the most recent government figures.
There are 29,427 deaths documented across the United Kingdom – a figure Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said was “a massive tragedy”.
The newest total for Italy, formerly, the most in Europe, now stands at 29,315.
But experts say that it might be months before full global comparisons will be made.
Italy and also the UK record the deaths of individuals who have tested positive for coronavirus, BBC head of statistics Robert Cuffe said, but Britain has reached this figure “faster” in its epidemic than Italy.
He said there are caveats in making such a comparison, including the United Kingdom population being about 10% larger than Italy’s, while Britain’s largest city is thrice bigger than Italy’s.
Each country also has different testing regimes with Italy conducting more tests than the United Kingdom till date.
In the last 24 hours, the British government has documented another 693 deaths.
Speaking at the daily coronavirus briefing, Mr Raab said the 29,427 lives lost was “a massive tragedy” the country has “never seen before… on this scale, in this way”.
But he would not be drawn on international comparisons, saying: “I don’t think we will get a real verdict on how well countries have done until the pandemic is over, and particularly until we get comprehensive international data on all cause mortality.”
In the meantime, the personal stories of these who have died are still coming out. They include three members of the identical family who died within weeks of every other after contracting the virus.
Keith Dunnington, who was 54, worked as a nurse for above 30 years, died at his parents house in South Shields on 19 April. 81 year old Lillian, His mother, died on 1 May and her husband Maurice, aged 85, died days after.
A house-keeper working at Watford Hospital went “above and beyond” in his job, named Momudou Dibba, died with the virus on 29 April.
In a declaration, West Hertfordshire NHS Trust said Mr Dibba, also known as Mo, was “kind, caring and considerate”.
Meanwhile, 14 people have died from Covid-19 related symptoms at the same care home situated in Ireland.
There have now been 1,383,842 tests for coronavirus across the United Kingdom, including 84,806 tests yesterday, Mr Raab told the No 10 briefing.
